Louisiana Paramedics Booked in Thefts

Paramedic Christopher Tubre is regularly summoned to take care of ailing people. In two cases, however, he's accused of taking their money as well.

Tubre, 34, of Grand Isle, an emergency medical technician with East Jefferson General Hospital in Metairie, was booked this week with stealing $238 from James Smith, 46, who had collapsed in front of the cashier's counter at an Elmwood convenience store.

The Dec. 23 incident was caught on surveillance cameras mounted in the store. A Jefferson Parish deputy sheriff who viewed the recording reported that he could see a male EMT reach over the victim's right shoulder, remove the money and place it into his own pocket.

Smith died Jan. 1, but not before filing a complaint telling the Sheriff's Office he didn't get his money back from either the paramedics or Ochsner Medical Center, where he was taken for treatment.

The second complaint against Tubre stems from an incident that occurred the same day in Metairie. A woman told a deputy that she had requested an ambulance to treat her uncle, according to a Sheriff's Office incident report. She said she was in the bathroom with her uncle when the paramedics entered the apartment . While in the bathroom, she heard a drawer open in the living room.

After the paramedics left, she said she discovered her uncle's rent money, between $300 and $500, missing from the drawer, the report said.

Tubre was booked Wednesday with two counts of theft and released on his own recognizance. He could not be reached for comment Friday.

Angelica Tenorio, 27, a paramedic who accompanied Tubre on the call to tend to Smith, was booked Thursday with one count of theft and remained in the Jefferson Parish Correctional Center in Gretna on Friday.

She has maintained her innocence and had no knowledge of any theft, said Danny Dysart, whose law firm is representing her. Dysart said he and Tenorio's attorney, Lisa Borne, are disappointed she was even arrested.

"Her lack of knowledge was taken as lack of cooperation," he said.

East Jefferson General Hospital is still conducting its own internal investigation into the matter, spokesman Keith Darcey said. Tubre and Tenorio have been placed on investigative leave of absence.

"We are cooperating with JPSO and will continue to," Darcey said.

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Michelle Hunter may be reached at (504) 883-7054.

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